


A (Metallic) Heart Full of Love

by ryukoishida



Series: Walking Disasters [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:05:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4024390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryukoishida/pseuds/ryukoishida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While the world is trying to deal with the apocalypse caused by a virus that has infected most of the Synthetic Human (SH) population, Matsuoka Rin, a human SAR officer, and Yamazaki Sousuke, one of the few SH units unaffected by the virus, find solace in each other in a brief moment of peace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A (Metallic) Heart Full of Love

It had been twenty-three days after most of the Synthetic Human units aboard _JDS Noriki_ , as well as in places inhabited by both humans and androids all over the Northeast Pacific region, had turned against their human counterparts in a virus-induced revolt.

 

The few teams that had managed to escape unscathed met up and decided the best strategy was to gather as much information about the virus and the situation on land as possible before devising a solid plan as to where they would go from there. For awhile, over the white noises of the radio airwaves, they could only hear each other, as if the few vehicles from _JDS Noriki_ had been severed from the rest of the world surrounded by an endless expanse of ocean, navigating to nowhere and hoping to receive any signs of news from their comrades along the coast or on other PNERU ships.

 

Their rations were running low after two weeks of aimless sailing and radio silence, yet they couldn’t risk docking on shore not knowing the state of their surroundings and thus jeopardizing their own lives with the high risk of encountering any rogue SH units that might still be roaming around after their rampage. From what little they had observed on the ship when the virus first hit, the infected robots seemed not to be conscious of what they were doing – their systems having changed and scrambled so radically that it was as if the virus codes had flicked on a hidden switch that ignited only one sole purpose within them: destruction.

 

Ryuugazaki Rei, the only remaining scientist from _JDS Noriki_ and one of the top researchers in the SH field, had been attempting to delve deeper into the issue and find some semblance of resolution, but with the limited equipment on their amphibious vehicles designed only for rescue missions in extreme physical environments, he couldn’t do much except to analyze the data they already had on hand.

 

And so another week passed by, though by some silent agreement, they had decided to follow Team Alpha’s lead as they steadily steered towards the southwest coast of Honshu Island, where Osaka used to be but had since sunk under meters of sea water decades ago as the sea level progressively rose and swallowed coastal towns and cities in a monstrous rate no one had anticipated.

 

As the vehicles drifted closer to land, Mikoshiba Momotarou, navigator of Team Beta, noticed something off the edge of the radar, which was usually used to detect signals of other ships and vessels of other teams during operations in order to disclose their locations and avoid collisions. For the last three weeks, there had only been the seven convoys from their own ship displayed as blue dots in the circular monitor, but with an excited yelp that attracted the attention of their team leader, who hovered close to the switchboard with sharp, crimson eyes and a frown, and was about to reprimand his subordinate, when his eyes widened at the realization of what that large and irregular shape floating just to the south of them – about fifty miles from where their group was – meant for the rest of them.

 

“Notify other teams that a ship has been spotted – might be a friendly – and that we’re going to try to initiate contact with them,” Matsuoka Rin ordered.

 

Momotarou replied with a crisp, “Yes, sir!” and began to let the other convoys know of the current situation.

 

As it turned out, the ship, named _HMS Icarus_ after the tragic Greek mythological figure, was the same class but a newer model of their infiltrated vessel. It was part of the ANERU fleet, the Atlantic division of the same search and rescue organization they were from. As strange as it might seem to see an Atlantic ship sailing in the South Pacific region, the SAR officers and personnel of _JDS Noriki_ had neither the time nor the mentality to question the sudden appearance of a vessel that should be employed in an entirely different ocean; for now, they were simply too happy to have the fortune to run into one of their own.

 

Rin could hear members from the other convoys whooping and laughing in a mixture of elation and relief over the comms, and he felt the corner of his own mouth pulling upwards as well, the heaviness that had been steadily piling on his chest having suddenly been lifted.

 

Standing across from him with his back leaning casually against the back wall of the cabin, Yamazaki Sousuke silently watched his human friends, arms crossed at his chest. As pleased as he was about this, Sousuke understood all too well that being one of the few “sane” SH units put him, as well as the three remaining SH members from other teams, at a risky disadvantage. Not many humans were that accepting of their kind even before this clusterfuck of an apocalypse happened; now that most of the SH population had turned against their human counterparts, the humans that created them had more of a reason to want to get rid of their kind once and for all.  

 

“Sousuke?”

 

The dark-haired SH felt the warmth and light pressure on his left arm from where Rin was slightly leaning against him as he stared up at him with troubled eyes through a curtain of untamed, red forelocks. Sousuke didn’t need the question to be asked out loud, for he had learned to read the silences and pauses of the other man from working closely together for the past few years.

 

“I’m worried about the other three.”

 

If he was going to be honest with himself, Sousuke was somewhat concerned about his own safety, too, because despite being an SH designed for marine warfare, which meant that he was equipped with a vast range of underwater and land weapons, there was still only one of him. If it came to a time when he had to defend himself against the rest of the humans, they would outnumber him for certain.

 

“The other three?” Rin raised an eyebrow in confusion.

 

“The other SH members from our ship,” Sousuke clarified curtly, and Rin’s expression changed into a comprehending one.

 

“You think the folks from _Icarus_ is going to cause a fuss?”

 

“I think it’ll escalate into more than just a ‘fuss’, if handled carelessly,” Sousuke told him, shadowed gaze casted downwards. “I wouldn’t put it past them. The Atlantic fleet is infamous for having deep-seated prejudice against SH; there had been a few cases when SH engineers and officers were forced to leave their positions despite their skills due to being blamed for making mistakes they didn’t commit. They are definitely more outspoken about their dislike of us than within the Pacific division, and with the ongoing rebellion, I doubt they’ll just gladly receive us with open arms.”

 

“I did hear rumors about that,” Nitori Aiichirou, the silver-haired medical officer of Team Beta, added quietly from the side, “but I didn’t realize their discrimination is so blatant and yet, none of the higher-ups have stepped in to resolve that.”

 

“It’s going to take more than just a few fancy speeches from military admirals to settle such a complicated issue, and not everyone would be convinced in the end. It’s hard to change a human’s mindset when it has been so innately drilled into thinking that SH units pose a certain danger and cannot be trusted under any circumstances.”

 

“We trust you though, Yamazaki-senpai!” Momotarou shouted from his position at the control panel.

 

Aiichirou nodded in agreement, and Rin placed a consoling hand on Sousuke’s shoulder.

 

“We can’t refuse their aide right now – especially since we’re almost out of supplies – but,” Rin’s hand slid down from the SH’s shoulder and reached for his hand, squeezing it lightly when he spoke the next words, “when push comes to shove, we’ll back you up no matter what.”

 

“It’s not going to be that easy,” Sousuke warned them, the three humans he had learned to know and care about looking back at him with bravado that the SH was definitely not feeling at the moment. He wondered when he had become so weak that he had come to require the protection and comforting presence of human beings.

 

“We survived the first wave of the apocalypse and didn’t get our asses kicked off into the next world by killer robots,” Momotarou reminded him with a cheerful grin as he carefully steered their vessel closer to the docking bay of _HMS Icarus_. “Everything after _that_ is going to be a piece of cake.”

 

“Sometimes I wish I can have half of your enthusiasm, Mikoshiba,” Sousuke chuckled.

 

“I know,” the redhead nodded with a mock-serious expression, golden eyes shining with mirth, “everyone always wishes they can have a piece of me. I’m just that awesome.”

 

Rin rolled his eyes good-naturedly and landed a light smack on the back of his subordinate’s head, “Just shut your trap and drive, Momo.”

 

“Aye, aye!”

 

-

 

It turned out Sousuke’s worry was justified the moment the twenty-eight surviving members of _JDS Noriki_ stepped out of their vessels and were met with a very impressive and equally intimidating row of naval officers, all of their rail-handguns pointed in their direction.

 

Tachibana Makoto, the ever-dependent and kind leader of Team Alpha and the unspoken commander of their group, raised his arms up with open palms as a sign of nonaggressive engagement as he walked a few steps away from the his own group.

 

The unnaturally bright, electric blue eyes of a dark-haired technician, the sole SH member of Team Alpha by the name of Nanase Haruka, silently followed every motion of his best friend, his fingers twitching restlessly as he surveyed for any sudden movements from the naval officers, who still hadn’t put away their weapons.

 

When it became clear that their faction wasn’t going to cause any trouble, one of the officers from the ship, a middle-aged man with dark blond hair combed back neatly and harsh, unforgiving features, apologized with a forced laugh, ordered his men to stand down, and introduced himself as Ethan Thorpe, one of the battalion captains aboard _HMS Icarus_.

 

Just when they thought the threat was over, Thorpe entreated – though his tone suggested that it was more of a command than a polite request – all twenty-eight of the newcomers to shed off anything containing metal and alloy and walk through what was obviously a metal detector positioned near the entrance of the ship’s main cabin.

 

“What’s the meaning of this?” Makoto asked with a firm, authoritative tone that was radically different from the gentle voice he usually spoke with, the smile he had been forcing himself to maintain was slipping into an insulted frown.

 

“To ensure our ship’s safety,” Thorpe assured him with a mockingly civil smile that didn’t touch the man’s eyes. “I’m sure you’d understand, Mr. Tachibana, what with the horrendous incidents happening everywhere, we have to make sure that none of the infected SH units can slip in to cause more chaos and unnecessary problems.”

 

“Perhaps you haven’t heard,” Makoto maintained his calm demeanor, and turned to face his shipmates. “Nanase Haruka, Yamazaki Sousuke, Shigino Kisumi, and Hanamura Chigusa, can you please step forward?”

 

The four remaining SH members of _JDS Noriki_ gathered into a neat row before Makoto, hands clasped behind their rod-straight backs. He nodded at them and swiveled back to face Thorpe, who stared at him with a challenging glower.

 

“These are the SH members of our teams who have managed to survive the attack within our ship,” Makoto began, gesturing his arm out towards them. “As you can see, they do not display any violent dispositions observed in the majority of the infected SH units, nor do they pose any sort of threats. So I’d like to kindly ask you and your men to treat them with the same kind of attitude that you treat the rest of us.”

 

“Scan them,” Thorpe looked displeased and unsatisfied at Makoto’s explanation, and ordered one of his subordinates to do a quick, physical scan of each of the SH unit.

 

Makoto didn’t voice out any objections; he had already expected what they were going to find, and he knew the types of arguments Thorpe was going to raise.

 

The officer showed Thorpe the results displayed on the tablet, and the man smirked without any real trace of amusement.

 

“Were you about to conveniently glimpse over the fact that all four of them are infected by the same virus as the rest of the SH population?”

 

“That is not our intention at all,” Makoto said without missing a beat, “we meant to give you a more detailed explanation once you allow us to enter without searching us like we’re a bunch of petty criminals.”

 

“I’ve read the reports, so spare me your explanation,” the blond-haired lieutenant scoffed. “Infected SH units whose systems are protected by a flimsy firewall established from emotional bonds? In other words, these four are just ticking time bombs waiting to explode in our faces. _Icarus_ ’ current priority is to rescue as many stragglers stuck on land as we possibly can; we don’t need another risk like this to weight us down.”

 

“They ­–– ” Makoto stressed the pronoun as he turned towards his trustworthy and competent SH comrades with a fierce look to his usually mild features, “ _They_ are not a threat to you or me; they’re not our enemies. I’m certain that your ship is in need of additional SAR technicians with the increasing amount of missions, correct? Our teams – including our SH members – are willing to provide help should the need arises, but it will only work if we can trust each other and treat each other as equals.”

 

“How do you expect us to trust you when you are clearly colluding with the rebels?” Thorpe sneered, and he didn’t even try to hide the unabashed disdain on his face when he glanced over at the four SH units once more with narrowed eyes. “They’re nothing more than a pile of well-constructed scrap metal; they are useless without us humans, so don’t you dare start acting all high and mighty with me and defending them as if they’re the innocent party here. There will come a time when you regret your decision to side with them, Mr. Tachibana, but for now, you and your robot-loving friends are not welcome on this ship.”

 

Makoto looked like he was about to argue, his fists trembling with seething anger by his side, but Haruka caught his gaze and shook his head subtly.   

 

After all, it wasn’t worth it for them to start a fight against an entire battalion of armed soldiers, and even if they were in dire need of supplies, they were already so close to land that they could just salvage what they could from a nearby coastal city before deciding where to head off to next.

 

“Fine,” Makoto released a long, steady breath, the green of his irises darkening as he casted an irked glare towards the lieutenant before turning away, “then I suppose we’ll be taking our leave, then.”

 

Just as the teams began to gather back into their respective vehicles, a few of them dragging their feet in disappointment at the breaking down of the negotiation, another officer rushed in and whispered something urgently to Thorpe, whose face first turned bright red and then into an interesting shade of purple, his frown growing deeper and more profound with each second passed.

 

“Wait.”

 

It looked like it was physically paining him to announce the next piece of news, but the twenty-eight members from _JDS Noriki_ halted to see what the lieutenant had to say.

 

“Apparently Commander Utsumi had issued his last message to Commander Villa requesting him to take in any survivors from his ship before his signal was completely wiped out,” Thorpe bit out.

 

“‘Any survivors’, meaning?” Makoto was forcing Thorpe to say the obvious, his lilt just on the side of taunting, but this was merely a tiny retaliation for insulting his companions earlier on.

 

“Everyone in your group – including the SH units – will be accepted as temporary members of _Icarus_ until we meet up with another vessel from the Pacific division, which won’t be for another month or so, from what the navigational crew’s rough estimation. This means that your people will be serving as functional teams when assigned to SAR missions and you will be responsible for carrying out your duties as expected from your previous positions.”

 

“You can be rest assured that we will do our jobs, and we will exceed your expectations. I hope we’ll be able to work well together, Lieutenant Thorpe,” Makoto offered his hand, his smile carefully crafted.

 

The blond-haired lieutenant, under the pressure of so many pairs of expectant eyes, shook the younger man’s hand curtly and grunted a low and begrudging, “As do I.”

 

For now, they had a place to stay.

 

-

 

It’s been almost two weeks since the surviving members of _JDS Noriki_ got accepted into one of the largest ships in ANERU’s fleet, and they should probably feel grateful about it, but the truth is that the officers and other personnel have shown nothing but insolent behavior and resentment towards them – humans and SH units alike.

 

Shigino Kisumi, a cheerful and loud-mouthed SH with a head of cotton-candy pink hair and dazzling violet eyes who specializes in advanced medical procedures, just casually shrugs off the invasive stares and offensive insults murmured behind his back with his disarming smiles.

 

“We can’t make everyone happy, and we’re not here to try and make peace with them, so why bother getting upset over it?” That’s Kisumi’s general attitude towards humans who choose not to accept their kind.

 

On the other hand, Hanamura Chigusa, a female SH with brown curls piled up in a messy bun and intelligent, blue-green eyes designed for underwater search and rescue, will shoot death glares at anyone who dare to verbally offend her within her earshot.

 

Her best friend and navigator of Team Alpha, Matsuoka Gou, as well as the boisterous medical officer of the same team, Hazuki Nagisa, try to accompany their SH friend whenever possible in order to fend off any unwanted provocations from the members of _HMS Icarus_ , since they both know how much of a hot-head Chigusa can get when she gets seriously aggravated.  

 

Chigusa would loudly proclaim that she doesn’t need bodyguards to keep her out of trouble, but even she has to admit that it’s for the better good of her co-workers and friends if she can rein in her temper and instigate less arguments.

 

Haruka, as per usual, doesn’t give much thought or concern about what others think of him, as he only cares about carrying out his duties to the best of his abilities and ensuring that Makoto and his friends are safe. His aloof attitude and quiet diligence are enough to put off anyone who tries to challenge him directly, so the most they can do is spread rumors about his questionably intimate relationship with Team Alpha’s leader.

 

When Rin pokes fun at Haruka in this regard, the dark-haired SH simply huffs out an irritated sigh; sitting beside him, Makoto almost chokes on his bread at Rin’s offhanded comment, his cheeks turning into a lovely, rosy shade while Haruka hands him a glass of water, throwing a warning stare towards the red-haired man. 

 

Rin grins and places his arms up in defense, and Sousuke has to haul him out of the dining hall – though not without some vocal protests from the redhead – before Haruka can have an excuse to start a fight amongst themselves.

 

“Why can’t you just leave Nanase alone?” Rushing past the lunch crowd that is steadily making their way towards the dining hall, Sousuke pulls the shorter man along the opposite direction by his upper arm. Rin thinks they might be heading towards his sleeping quarters, which are tucked in the northern-most end of the ship, but he’s not entirely sure.

 

“Since when did you start caring about Haru’s feelings?” Not that Rin isn’t glad that his best friend is actually making the effort to be civil towards Haruka, whom he can’t seem to get along with ever since the two SH met two years ago, but the manner with which Sousuke calls him out on it is a bit uncanny.

 

“I don’t,” Sousuke sighs. Their pace slackens when the corridor becomes more deserted, though he’s still holding onto Rin’s arm. “But I feel bad for Tachibana. He’s a good man and he’s doing the best he can for the rest of us; he doesn’t need your teasing to add to the stress he’s probably already dealing with.”

 

“Alright, already,” Rin complies, and he notices that the teal-eyed SH still has his fingers clasped around his arm. “Um, Sousuke, where are we going?”

 

“Your room,” he replies, sending the red-haired man a fleeting glance, the sea-green of his irises glimmering with ardor and lips set in a determined line. “We have about twenty minutes before our next drill, right?”

 

At Sousuke’s meaningful gaze and comprehending his intention, Rin’s cheeks heat up as he swallows hard, pulls his arm out of Sousuke’s grip only to lace his fingers with the dark-haired android’s before dragging him along the hallway with renewed vigor.

 

“Impatient, are we?” A hint of teasing colors Sousuke’s baritone a degree darker.

 

Rin ducks his head in obvious embarrassment, but he doesn’t stop walking or deny Sousuke’s rhetorical comment, just tightens his grip on Sousuke’s hand and continues to stride along without actually breaking into a run.

 

So much has been happening for the past few months that Rin doesn’t even have time to think about anything else other than finding supplies to prolong their survival out at sea, and then there’s the matter of dealing with the unfriendly members of the ship they’re currently taking refuge in while also participating in training drills and SAR missions under the duress. Everything builds up and at the end of the day, Rin would feel mentally and physically exhausted that the moment his head hits the pillow, he’d be fast asleep.

 

Sousuke understands the limits of a human body, of course, so in between meals, intensive training regimes, and SAR assignments that might sometimes span over twenty-four hours, they exchange the briefest of touches – a brush of fingers under the dining table, a soft, fleeting kiss on the mouth in a dim, deserted corridor.

 

The little sparks of flame that ignite along his sensors across his synthetic skin are difficult to ignore, but Sousuke manage to restrain himself from pushing the feisty leader against the nearest wall and ravishing his mouth until he’s breathing in and swallowing Rin’s frenzied gasps of his name.

 

Now that they’re being given twenty precious minutes of free time, Sousuke’s almost overwhelmed by all the possibilities, but from the insistent way Rin is pulling him into Team Beta’s shared sleeping quarter and locking the door behind them, and the unbridled fervor with which he pushes the taller SH down the firm mattress of one of the lower bunks, Rin appears to be in the same state.

 

Sousuke lays on his back, ink-black hair a stark contrast against the coarse, beige sheets and the unnaturally vivid blue-green of his eyes blinking up at him with an infuriatingly neutral expression. A corner of his lips is tucked into a small smirk while he waits for Rin’s next move, but the redhead looks almost at a loss for what to do – half of him wants to dive down and kiss the living daylight out of his best friend while the other half is hesitating, still unsure of what their relationship _is_ or what it entails.

 

Sousuke has made it clear, while Rin was injured and was resting in the infirmary of their old vessel a few months ago, that his affection goes deeper and further than for a brother or a mere friend, and Rin has accepted and returned his feelings with a relieved and glowing heart.

 

Then the androids went rogue and caused large-scale destructions, and neither of them had the time to ponder further on the implication of this until now. A romantic relationship between an android and a human isn’t unheard of, though the cases that worked out in the end are far and few in between. Enduring the judgmental stares and whisperings is only one of the many hardships. There’s also the matter of their occupations, since romantic affairs between co-workers in such a high-pressure work environment that can directly result in disastrous consequences, whether the concerned parties are SH units or human beings, is highly discouraged. 

 

Rin has never been one for blindly following rules or deliberately breaking them for the sake of proving a point, but when he has an ounce of quiet time on his own, when his brain grows too fatigued from the strenuous activities and mental strain of that day, unsettling thoughts, thick as impenetrable smoke, like ‘How will this work out between us?’ or ‘What if it’s just a phase?’ or ‘What if he’s just confusing his affection for a friend as romantic feelings?’ slither their way in. The weight of the endless cycle of self-defeating thoughts is enough to drag him into the deep end on some nights.

 

Rin is good at pretending in front of others, but he can’t lie to himself: he loves Yamazaki Sousuke, a Synthetic Human unit incapable of pain and unwanted for physical needs, but intrinsically more human, more kind, than some of the bastards boasting of their human status as if they’re the more superior race on this damn ship.

 

“You know, it’s kind of funny,” Rin smiles with uncharacteristic bashfulness that should not look so attractive on a grown man, holding Sousuke’s curious gaze still as he pulls him to sit up on the edge of the bed while he remains standing, “Now that we have some time alone, I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing.” He rubs the back of his neck with a hint of self-consciousness rarely observed in the usually confident and brash young man.

 

“How about we start with this, then?” Sousuke gets to his feet and crowds into the other man’s personal space, his eyes constantly gauging for any signs that Rin might be uncomfortable with what he’s about to do, but Rin doesn’t flinch at his approach, just allows the taller android to gently pull him into his arms and keeping him steady within his embrace.

 

Rin winds his arms tightly around the SH’s waist, his head buried in his chest, breathing in. Synthetic Humans don’t sweat or secrete any specific scents, though they require thorough washing every once in awhile, especially after prolonged soaking in the ocean during missions, so when Rin inhales, there’s only the soft hint of salt from the sea beneath the sharp waft of cleaning solution.

 

It’s a scent that he’s come to grow comfortable with.

 

Their breathing slows down, Sousuke matching Rin’s rhythm though he knows that it’s all just an appearance – role playing, really, pretending to be a human being though he has long come to terms with the truth that he’ll never become one.

 

Having the sentience of one is close enough; having the ability to develop understanding of ideas like _friends_ , and _family_ , and _love_ is enough; having the chance to experience them and turning them into memories are more than he could have ever asked for; and Sousuke is satisfied with that – he is.

 

So when he reels back a little, his arms still securely wrapped around the slim frame of his human lover ( _Are they lovers?_ The thought crosses Sousuke’s processor and flashes out of existence. He’s afraid to ask.), he hesitates only for half a second before he leans forward, cool lips touching Rin’s significantly warmer ones in a chaste kiss.

 

He can feel the flush of Rin’s skin emanating and spreading like a flow of summer sunlight streaming from his fingertips where he’s tracing lines from the back of his neck and trailing up to cradle the side of his face as he tilts his head slightly to adjust for a better angle.

 

At the slow flick of Sousuke’s tongue against his lower lip, Rin whimpers, fingers clutching desperately on the android’s shoulders and parting his mouth to let him in. Rin gradually steers them to perch on the edge of the bed, with the redhead straddling the SH’s lap and hands wandering beneath his shirt to seek more.

 

Sousuke’s skin is cooler to the touch, and Rin knows that if he were to place his hand over the left side of Sousuke’s chest, there will only be silence and stillness, so he doesn’t do that; instead, he takes in the wet, filthy noises of their kisses, more urgent with each second passed by, and how incredibly alive Sousuke feels beneath his exploring hands, muscles shifting and artificial breaths fanning warmth and igniting a slow-burning fire across his skin.

 

“You know, I never even thought to ask,” Rin murmurs, trying not to let whatever Sousuke’s tongue is doing to the length of his neck and collarbone – languid licks combined with playful nips – derail him from his question.

 

“Hmm?” He only stops his gentle assault on Rin’s skin when the pause becomes too long, and he touches his forehead to Rin’s, fingers playing languorously with the ends of the man’s fiery hair.

 

“Can you feel… you know…?” Rin glances down between their bodies pointedly, hoping the subtle gesture will get his query across.

 

“I don’t know…?”

 

Rin slaps the dark-haired android’s arm as soon as he sees the teasing grin on his usually stoic features, teal irises glimmering with mirth.

 

He swears it’s for retaliation and it may also have been stemmed from a bit of curiosity as well, but when Rin, with his eyes trained on the other’s inquisitive sea-green ones, grinds down against Sousuke deliberately, the android squeezes his eyes close at the strange but pleasurable weight, his mouth falling open into a soft sigh and fingers digging harder into Rin’s back.

 

Sousuke, of course, knows that that particular set of reactions is just another algorithm within his complex programming that allows him to act a certain way in response to particular stimuli, but it’s rare for the tendency to surface, and rarer still for Sousuke to let it carry him away and dictate his behavior.

 

It’s too dangerous – the unpredictability of it – the way he let himself fall so easily, so effortlessly into Matsuoka Rin’s arms; it’s dangerous and he will not have it any other way.

 

“I guess that answers the question,” Rin chuckles, but it doesn’t last long when Sousuke effectively shuts him up with another kiss that leaves Rin breathless and hungry for more.

 

Sensing the redhead’s erratic and feverish pulse and thundering heartbeat, Sousuke takes advantage of Rin’s dazed and elated state, and with the impeccably graceful movement that no human can hope to replicate, the dark-haired SH effortlessly maneuvers Rin so that he’s now lying on his back with Sousuke hovering above him, a mischievous grin lining his spit-shine lips.

 

“Just a little payback,” Sousuke tells him, and then he’s pushing Rin’s shirt up and lowering himself down to kiss along his ribcage and mouthing at the expanse of skin, biting a little before soothing it with the soft press of his tongue, his quiet breaths and teasing licks raking up sparks across wherever his lips touch and his hands linger.

 

“W-where did you learn all this?” Rin asks shakily, his hand winding into Sousuke’s disarrayed hair without his noticing as the android continues to stray lower down his abdomen and closer to the waistband of his trousers.

 

“Google,” Sousuke replies semi-seriously while his deft fingers make fast work of the button and zipper of Rin’s navy blue uniform.

 

“Don’t get smart with me,” Rin shoves at his shoulders, but there’s no real strength to it.

 

“Mm, it’s true,” Sousuke mutters against the pale skin of his legs marred by the occasional scars – both old and fading as well as new ones from recent injuries.

 

It just reminds Sousuke of how fragile humans can be, with soft skin that breaks so easily, tendons that tear at the slightest pull, and bones that shatter like glass.

 

Delicate and short-lived.

 

Sousuke closes his eyes, shuts off all thoughts except to concentrate on drawing out more groans and broken syllables from the man beneath him.

 

“Sou ­–– ah.”

 

The android is mouthing experimentally at Rin’s clothed erection, his eyes honing in to Rin’s face to observe more closely so that he can adjust the pressure and position while his hard drive is whirring busily to process all the data he’s recording, only to find that Rin is staring straight at him, kiss-swollen lips parted slightly and panting, a halo of fire-red hair pooling beneath his head. He’s blinking his wide, claret eyes at him, startled and amazed.

 

The scent – _Rin’s_ scent – shouldn’t have distracted him so much, but the musk is almost intoxicating, making him crave more of it – his scent, his touches, his taste. 

 

“Sousuke, y-you don’t have to –– ”

 

“I may not look like it,” his face surfaces back to Rin’s line of sight, and the expression he’s wearing is something the man has never seen during the two years he’s known the android: his chest is heaving as if it’s difficult for him to keep still, his eyes dilated and the pure black of his pupils surrounded by rings of teal, and he looks almost pained, teeth snagging at his bottom lip and frame trembling like a lone leaf in the breeze, “but I’m really turned on right now – what a weird thing for an SH to say, right? If you’d like me to stop, I will, but know that I’m doing this because I want to – I want to do this with _you_ , Rin.”

 

“You –– you’re so unfair,” Rin huffs out an embarrassed, little laugh, face turned into the mattress in an attempt to hide his flaming cheeks. He feels utterly defenseless under Sousuke’s tender gaze as he brushes the stray lock of red hair out of Rin’s eyes.

 

Without another word, Sousuke ducks down to continue with his previous task, nibbling at the jut of Rin’s hipbone and peeling off his briefs already wet with spots of precum.

 

Synthetic Humans don’t eat, so one would expect that the sensors on their tongues and within their oral cavities to be duller than the ones installed on the rest of their bodies. But the first taste he gets of Rin is potent, and Sousuke has to forcefully shut down his data-collection software, which has started to analyze the composition of Rin’s precum as Sousuke steadily takes in his swollen cock and sucking it lightly.

 

His processor has stopped sorting the information he’s receiving, but the sensitive receptors on his tongue keeps feeding him with words from his vast database of learned vocabulary that try to describe Rin’s taste. It’s times like this that Sousuke wishes he can shut everything off and just _feel_ without thinking, but it’s impossible, and so he makes the best of what he has. One of his hands reaches for the base of Rin’s cock and begins to earnestly stroke him where his mouth can’t reach, letting the wet noises and Rin’s breathy, choked-out moans of his name pour over him like warm, silver raindrops on a summer’s night.

 

Unlike everything else he does, when Rin reaches climax, fingers dragging into Sousuke’s hair so tightly that he’d most definitely yelp out in pain if he can physically feel such a thing, he almost makes no sound, just a long, drawn-out low whine as his frame shudders uncontrollably from the heat that slowly uncoils and blooms, streaks of white staining his lower abdomen and a few drops having landed on Sousuke’s cheeks.

 

Despite his lack of necessity to respire, Sousuke’s chest is heaving deeply with every inhale and exhale, the center of his chest growing strangely warm as he takes in Rin in his post-orgasm state. He makes sure the image of Rin spread out with languid limps, half-lidded eyes that stare back up at him with such haze and warmth-soaked crimson, and sex-flushed skin shimmering with a sheen of sweat is saved on his hard drive. He doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the images yet, but he’s certain an idea will come up eventually.

 

Blinking slowly, Rin allows the SH to pull him up into a lax sitting position, though he’s collapsing most of his weight on Sousuke’s supporting arms as he wind them gently around the smaller man in a loose embrace.

 

In the almost-silence filled up by the vessel’s constant low drone, Rin’s breathing gradually slows back down to its usual rate, his heartbeat a sturdy, lovely rhythm that Sousuke can sense from the receptors of his skin where their clothed chests touch. Sousuke figures they should untangle from each other and clean themselves up, but it doesn’t look like Rin wants to let go of him any time soon, and Sousuke can’t find it in himself to be the first to move away, either.

 

Just for that brief, peaceful moment, deep amongst the apocalyptic chaos of this world that feels like it would consume them on some day and out of the prying and judgmental eyes of others, Matsuoka Rin finds the courage to silently murmur the three words – words that have been burning at the back of his mind and on the tip of his tongue throughout all these months – against Sousuke’s shoulder.

 

The soundless sentiment is branded on Sousuke’s skin, and setting ablaze a golden trail deeper still until it reaches the innermost complex of his would-be-heart. It’s the simplest, most fundamental sentiment of the human spectrum of emotions, but not many SH have the opportunity or resolve to accept the fragility of it, and return it with a metallic heart full of devotion and affection (with a whispered “I love you, too.”).

 

Rin’s arms around Sousuke’s body tighten, and he knows they’re running out of time.

 

At long last, with a small noise of reluctance, Rin forces himself to check the communicator watch clasped around his wrist, and immediately pushes the startled SH away with a string of cusses, scrambling to clean himself off with the t-shirt he’s been wearing before chucking it messily into a corner and putting on a laundered one in an impressive interval of 15.7 seconds.

 

Sousuke would know; he has been calculating with an amused grin while he wipes his face clean with Rin’s towel.

 

“Fuck. If we’re going to be late for this very unnecessary drill, Thorpe is going to have another legit excuse to kick us off this ship.” He fixes his hair before a tiny mirror mounted on the back of the door and combs out the strands that have stick up from their earlier activity.

 

“Don’t worry,” Sousuke wanders over and ruffles Rin’s hair, which has effectively ruined the redhead’s effort much to his dismay, and the SH swoops down to plant a swift kiss on the crown of Rin’s head, a soft and subtle smile lighting up the vibrant sea-green of his eyes. “An asshole Ethan Thorpe may be, but it’s nothing that our brilliant leader can’t handle.”

 

“You’re talking about me, right?” Rin opens a sliver of his door to take a peek, and after deeming it safe for the both of them to come out, he lets the door slips shut behind them and proceeds to the training grounds on the south upper deck.

 

“I meant Tachibana,” Sousuke snickers, and easily dodges Rin’s incoming punch aiming for his right arm.

 

“Rude,” Rin scolds him, but he’s laughing, too.

 

Sousuke doesn’t think too much of it – doesn’t allow himself to because overthinking will get him nowhere – when he drapes his entire frame on Rin’s back, casually wrapping his arms around his shoulders.

 

“Oi, get off! What if the others see us?” Rin tries to shake off the SH who’s almost a head taller than him with a body composed mainly of titanium alloy but to no avail, so he just rolls his eyes with an exaggerated sigh of irritation and relents in defeat.

 

“Let them,” Sousuke leans in to murmur, touching his lips teasingly at the junction just behind Rin’s ear.

 

“Sousuke, damn it!” Rin’s heart is hammering against his chest again at the close proximity and highly suggestive tone of the SH’s voice.

 

Before Rin can take any action, however, the android puts some respectable distance between himself and the leader of Team Beta once more, “Can’t take a joke, Matsuoka?”

 

“It’s not funny. You know how the _Icarus_ folks feel about you and the other three, right? They’ll use any excuse to attack you.” Rin is concerned – it’s clear from the anxious light in his eyes and knitted eyebrows – and the focus of his concern isn’t on himself but of Sousuke and his other SH co-workers.

“I know where to draw the line, alright? So stop frowning or you’ll get premature wrinkles,” Sousuke slides a finger down Rin’s forehead as if to prove his point, and Rin’s scowl slackens under the android’s light touch. “Come on, let’s get going before Thorpe throws another tantrum.”

 

With a firm grasp on his hand, Sousuke begins to lead them towards their destination, and it isn’t until they’ve reached the entryway to the upper deck that Sousuke is willing to let go. 

**Author's Note:**

> I just couldn’t find a good place to end things, so apology if it’s a little abrupt towards the end there. Now that I’ve introduced Kisumi and Chigusa into the story as SH units, I really want to write about them. Maybe a ficlet or something. I don’t know who to ship Kisumi with, though, haha! Maybe some of you can give me a few suggestions. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed it!


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